“Did we believe what we’ve just seen? Or were we dreaming?” wondered Pierce Brosnan about the gravity-defying, daredevil showmanship that wowed him. Pierce and wife Keely Shaye Smith and sons attended Cirque du Soleil’s premiere of Kooza in the blue-and-yellow Big Top at Santa Monica Pier. The evening benefited Heal the Bay, also the One Drop Foundation, whose mission is to provide access to water for poverty-stricken peoples.

The Montreal-based company’s Reggie Lyons informs that, currently, nineteen Cirque du Soleil troupes are performing around the world in North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The company functions with 4,000 employees, which includes more than 1,000 artists, representing 40 nationalities speaking 25 languages. More than 90 million spectators have seen a Cirque du Soleil show, and more than 15 million will this year. In 2011, a permanent company will take over the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, but step aside to make room for the Oscars each year.